At an October 2000 town hall on MSNBC’s Hardball, an audience member asked Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) about why the rich pay higher taxes than the middle class. McCain defended progressive taxation, stating, “I think it’s to some degree because we feel, obviously, that wealthy people can afford more”:
[T]he very wealthy, because they can afford tax lawyers and all kinds of loopholes, really don’t pay nearly as much as you think they do when you just look at the percentages. […]
So, look, here’s what I really believe, that when you are — reach a certain level of comfort, there’s nothing wrong with paying somewhat more. … And frankly, I think the first people who deserve a tax cut are working Americans with children that need to educate their children, and they’re the ones that I would support tax cuts for first.
Watch it:
Only 9 percent of McCain’s tax cuts will go to the bottom 80 percent of households, while 58 percent will go to the top 1 percent of households. “Oh, yes, sure, the wealthy, the wealthy. Always be interested in when people talk about who the, quote, ‘wealthy,’” mocked McCain in February when asked about his pro-rich tax plan.
Today, the Washington Post published statements posted on al-Hesbah, an extremist website with ties to al Qaeda, which declared the terrorist group “will have to support McCain in the coming election.” The site said if al Qaeda wants to exhaust the United States militarily and economically, “impetuous” McCain is the better choice because he is more likely to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The McCain campaign swiftly disavowed the statements, arranging a conference call with top national security advisers Randy Scheunemann and James Woolsey. Woolsey declared that the post was not an endorsement but was in fact clearly intended to boost McCain’s opponent, by providing a “kiss of death” to McCain’s campaign:
WOOLSEY: This individual knows that the endorsement of people like him is a kiss of death, figuratively and literally. So it seems to me it’s pretty clear that, by making this statement, that he wants — it would be a good thing for McCain to be president, he’s clearly trying to damage John McCain, not speaking from his heart.
However, just minutes earlier in the call, Scheunemann went through a laundry list of “bad guys” who support of Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), cited dubious quotes from Hamas, Iranian President Ahmadinejad, and Muammar al-Gaddafi of Libya. In fact, the McCain campaign pounced on Hamas’s endorsement of Obama in March. “If Senator Obama is favored by Hamas, I think people can make judgments accordingly,” McCain declared ominously.
When a reporter pointed out the contradiction, Woolsey replied that the difference was that McCain’s endorsement came from “simply an individual blogger,” saying that this extremist’s true concern about a McCain presidency “seems very clear to me, frankly.” So when a terrorist supports McCain, it’s a head fake, but when one supports Obama it’s a legitimate issue voters should “make judgments” on?
Obama's Shoes: A Historical Comparison <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/22/9355/4279/150/638528";>DailyKos has an image up, pulled from a <a href="http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0810/callie-bp.html";>collection of photos by Callie Shell, of Barack Obama reclining at a table, wearing shoes with holes in the soles. Naturally, the left-leaning blog makes a broad comparison to the RNC-funded fashion show that Sarah Palin has been putting on as she travels the campaign trail. Of course, the first comparison that springs to my mind is probably one that the Obama campaign would liken to the old theatrical superstition of saying the name "Macbeth" in a theatre - fellow Illinois political figure Adlai Stevenson.
Stevenson was the subject of a photograph taken by Bill Gallagher of the Flint Journal, in which the presidential contender was captured with similar holes in his shoes. That photograph earned Gallager a Pulitzer Prize in 1953, and Stevenson got himself <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Adlai_Stevenson_statue_at_airport.jpg";>a statue with the iconic shoe-holes at the Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington. But it didn't translate into an electoral win for Stevenson, a historical note that I'm guessing Obama would prefer not to repeat.
On the defensive over her controversial Hardball appearance last Friday, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) told the St. Cloud Times yesterday that she regretted suggesting that Barack Obama held [base ']Äúanti-American[base ']Äù views. But at the same time Bachmann was apologizing for her remarks to traditional media outlets, Bachmann continued to cast aspersions on Obama’s patriotism in a series of appearances on right-wing radio shows.
On Hugh Hewitt’s radio show yesterday, Bachmann declared that “Barack Obama’s views are against America”:
BACHMANN: All I did on Chris Matthews is I questioned Chris Matthews and said, “look, if John McCain had friends like Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers and Father Pfleger, you’d be all over him Chris, but you’ve laid off of Barack Obama.” And so, he was using the word “Anti-American” and I told Chris, what I question are Barack Obama’s views. Because Barack Obama’s views are against America. They won’t be good for our country.
On Mike Gallagher’s radio show this morning, Bachmann attacked Obama’s policy proposals, asking rhetorically, “Are they for America or will they be against traditional American ideals and values?”:
BACHMANN: And they can’t take it because the point is what are Barack Obama’s policies? Are they for America or will they be against traditional American ideals and values? And I’ll tell you what. Punishing tax rates, redistribution of wealth, socialized medicine, inputing censorship in the form of the un-Fairness Doctrine and taking away the secret ballot from the worker has nothing to do with traditional American values. That’s why your listeners need to know. Otherwise the United States may be literally changed forever.
When Gallagher asked, “How is it not reasonable to wonder if that’s anti-American?,” Bachmann did not disagree with him. Instead, she simply replied, “what I did is touch a nerve, just like Joe the Plumber touched a nerve.” Listen to clips from both shows here:
During her appearance on Gallagher’s show, Bachmann claimed that media scrutiny of her “anti-American” comments was a coordinated effort “to get my scalp on a platter.”
In a GOP press conference today, Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) defended Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) regarding her recent comments about Sen. Barack Obama having “anti-American” views. Echoing Bachmann’s excuse, Souder put the blame on Chris Matthews, claiming that he “tried to trick her into that question”:
SOUDER: I read the whole interview. Chris Matthews tried to trick her into that question, over and over for the entire interview. Unfortunately, her last comment, she fell for the trap. No, we shouldn’t have an investigation into Congress. They are elected by the people of the United States. I have full faith and confidence. I think some of them, for example, Sen. Obama, should be careful who he pals around with.
“She was pushed into that, all you have to do is read the full interview. But she shouldn’t have fallen for the trap,” he added. Watch it:
If Bachmann was “tricked” by Matthews and walked into his “trap”, why did she again today suggest Obama has views that are “against America?”
Today, the Washington Post published statements posted on al-Hesbah, an extremist website with ties to al Qaeda, which declared the terrorist group “
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